You know those moments in life that are just perfect? Sometimes they are brief, fleeting moments that last merely a few seconds, or they can be a day made up of perfect moments. Sure, you know when certain perfect moments are going to occur, like when one of your children are born, or when you hold and look into the eyes of your child for the first time. But I am talking about the unplanned moments that just happen. They are typically quite rare. They are impossible to plan, because they will never live up to the expectations you build up in your mind. And if you've had one, they are impossible to replicate because you can never duplicate the spontaneity that created the moment the first time. I have been lucky enough to have some of these moments that I keep locked away in the recesses of my mind and try to pull them out on 'blue' days to re-live the moment - as slowly as possible - so that I can for just a fraction of a second feel a splinter of that joy again. In order to really experience these types of moments you have to be the type of person that is willing to open yourself up and let the experience happen to you. You can't be a shut off person. You need to be in touch with yourself and the world around you.
One of these moments involve my son 'Jake' and me. It was on his 10th birthday. We were on a family vacation with my wife and our daughter as well in Oceanside, California. I told Jake for his birthday that, within reason, it was a day of yes'. I would do my best to avoid saying "no". His choice was to go to Disneyland. Margaret and my daughter would stay in Oceanside for the day. So Jake and I headed out bright and early for Anaheim. We got to Disneyland before the park opened and stayed until it closed. We went on every ride he wanted to, in the order he wanted to, regardless of which park it was in. We took full advantage of the park hopper tickets and the fast trac access to the attractions. We ate what he wanted, where he wanted, and we had one of the best days of our lives. I re-live that day often. So does Jake. He mentions it to me nearly every weekend he comes up to stay with us.
Another one of these perfect moments happened just last Wednesday evening. This was one of the rare spontaneous moments that to the outside world makes little or no sense. My dear wife got me a zero-gravity chair for Fathers Day this year. She liked it so well that she got herself one too. My brother-in-law and his wife also got me a Fathers Day gift of a 'bug zapper' that uses two AA batteries and looks very much like a racketball racket. The idea behind this is you press a small black button until a red light comes on, then you swing it at the bug and with 2,700 volts, it incinerates the insect. On Wednesday evening, my wife and I were sitting on our zero-gravity chairs and watching the sunset. Our 2 1/2 year old daughter was jumping on her small trampoline and doing 'bumbies'. Our nearly month old son was asleep in my wifes arms. Tom Petty was playing on the iPod - classic songs off of Wild Flowers. We had cold Otter Pops that we were eating after dinner and I was swatting bugs with my bug zapper. To the four of us, this was a perfect moment. A beautiful sunset, no whining, everybody happy, good music and bugs under control. May sound odd to you but we enjoyed this as a perfect moment for us.
Here's to you and yours hoping you have many perfect moments and may they come often and may you be receptive to them. Cheers...
